A NATIONAL furniture repair firm has been forced to bring in staff from the Midlands and South East to be able to continue to run its business in Chester.

Regency@Home Ltd says the city seems to have few skilled workers to fill its growing vacancies and in order to offer a service in the area it has had to bring in employees from other regions.

Managing director Andy Doran said: 'Regency@Home Ltd is a leading, UK furniture and upholstery repair company, with contracts with many major manufacturers, retailers and insurers, and more coming on stream every week.

'Since launching the year before last our business expansion has been phenomenal and earlier this year we launched a new network of professional carpet and upholstery cleaners to complement the services we already offer.

'But despite the huge demand for furniture repairers and upholsterers we cannot find the skilled people to do the work. We have launched a massive national campaign to recruit people with these traditional skills and have managed to find qualified staff in most areas. But Chester is still proving a problem.'

Regency@Home Ltd, whose retail clients include Courts and Harveys, says despite strenuous efforts to recruit employees via advertisements and placing vacancies in the area's job centres, it is still short staffed.

The company is desperate to recruit men and women with repair skills from all over the Cheshire, in particular from Chester, who can work in the area but is finding it impossible.

Mr Doran added: 'We could create 20 plus repairers positions nationally every month if we could find suitable candidates. In Chester alone we need at least a handful of new staff now.'

Although based in Somerset, Regency@Home currently has a network of repairers and cleaners working all over the country and is keen to add to this team as soon as possible.

For further details on job opportunities with Regency@Home Ltd, which is part of South Staffordshire Group Plc, please call the Regency recruitment hotline on 01934 423 230 or ask at your local job centre. The vacancies have been registered with all job centres in the area.